Lock.



No. 638,439. Patented Dec. 5, |899. R. S. BOWEN.

' Lock.

(Application led Mar. 2, 1899i) (N0 Model.)

.MIMI

llllllllml Wam NiTn STATES PATENT Orricn.

ROBERT S. BOWEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE OHIOKERING deSONS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,439, dated December,5, i899.

Application led March 2, 1899. Serial No. 707,422 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ROBERT S. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks for Pianos,&c., of which the following is a specification, reference being hadVtherein to the accompanying drawings.

The main object of my invention is to produce a piano-lock that shall'becapable of being fitted to a piano more easily than are the locks now inuse and without the danger of marring the finish of the piano which atpresent attends this step in its manufacture.

It will be understood that in the making of a piano the lock is fittedthereto in practice after the woodwork of the piano has received itsfinish, and it results that the slightest slip or displacement of theworkmans tools in preparing the woodwork to receivethe lock or ininserting and securing the latter therein will cause very seriousdamage. For this reason in the case of the piano-locks with which I amfamiliar great care and time are required to be taken for theirapplication to the piano. My aim is to produce an effective lock of suchcharacter that the lid and body of the piano-case may be prepared forits reception expeditiously and without substantial danger of mistake ordamage, the same facility and safety attaching also to the act ofinserting and securing the lock. To this end I have produced theconstruction that I now shall proceed to describe in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein is shown the best embodiment of theinvention hitherto devised by me, and afterward I shall define theessential characteristics of the invention in the claims at the close ofthis specifica-tion.

In the drawings, Figure l is a middle vertical section, on agreatlyenlarged scale, through the lock and keeper, showing themattached, respectively, to the body and lid or cover of a piano-case.Fig. 2 is an elevation of the catch or bolt detached from the rest ofthe lock. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the lock. Fig. 4 is a' middlevertical section of the same and of the portion of the piano-case inwhich it is inserted, taken at right-angles to the section in Fig. l.Fig. 5 is a like section taken on the same plane as Fig. l, but showingthe catch of the lock in its retracted position.

The case l of the lock is cylindrical. The keeper 2 is also cylindrical,forming, When the lid 3 is closed upon the body 4L of the pianocase, acontinuation of the lock-casing l. For the reception of the lock-casingand keeper the abutting faces 5 6 of the lid 3 and body 4, respectively,simply require to have formed therein the cylindrical cavities 7 and 8.These cavities may be bored with an auger, and, as will be immediatelyperceived, the operation is very expeditious and of a nature to insureaccuracy and to prei cludethe liability of scratching or marring thefinish of the piano, a danger that has always been serious in this work,so far as my experience goes. i The keeper 2 has a partially-closedupper or inner end, as shown, and it is secured in its cavity by awood-screw 9, which is passed through a hole in the said upper or innerend of the keeper and is screwed into the lid of the piano-case. Theoperation of screwing in this single screw is rapid and quite free fromdanger, inasmuch as in case the screwdriver slips it comes into contactonly with the interior surface of the keeper. In some cases, however, Icontemplate securing the keeper in place otherwise. In my use of theterms lid7 and body I am aiming at clearness and conciseness and do notmean to coniine myself to a construction in which the lock is located inthe body and the striker in the lid, as obviously this arrangement maybe reversed or otherwise modified Without going beyond the scope of myinvention.

Before the lock is inserted in its cavity a second cavity l0,constituting a keyhole, is bored transverselyinward from the outer face11 of the piano-case until it intersects the cavity 8. The sameexpedition and safety that characterize the' performance of the one.After the insertion of the lock a bushvIO ing or escutcheon 12 is pushedinto the'cavity lO, where it is held by friction, or it may be providedexteriorly with a screw-thread, thereby enabling it to be screwed firmlyinto place in said cavity 10. The bushing is made of a length to projectslightly into the cavity 8, the lock-casing being recessed, as at 13 13,to receive its edge. When this operation has been performed, the lock issolidly secured in its place. Y

14 is the catch or bolt of the lock. It moves both longitudinally andtransversely within the lock-casing, its extruded position being shownin Fig. 1 and its retracted position in Figs. 4 and 5. In the latterposition the head 15 of the catch lies flush with the surface 6 of thepiano-case and within the slot 33, which is formed in thepartially-closed upper or outer end of the lock-casing1 In thefullyextruded position of the catch or bolt its head 15,which ishook-shaped, (it then having been swung transversely, as to the left inFig. 1,)

engages with a shoulder 16, formed in any convenient manner on thekeeper 2, as by cutting away a portion of the shell of the keeper at17'.l In this position of the catch or bolt the piano-lid is securelylocked. The extrusion and retractionk of the catch is effected by therotation of a key-piece 18,- in the shape of a disk, which has a centralsquare hole 19 in it to receive the square pin of a key inserted intothe lock through the bushing 12. There is of course a hole 25 in thelock-casing to admit the key to the key-piece. On the key-piece is a pin20, which projects into a slot 21 in the lower end of the catch or A jbolt. -Rotation of the key-piece in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5from its position 24 serving as a sliding bearing and making contactwith the interior surface of the shell of the lock-case. When thekey-piece is ro tated by means of a key inserted into its cen traiopening, the pin 2O first moves from the position which it occupies inFig. 5 toward the left and upward, thereby occasioning an upwardmovement of the catch and extruding the head 15 of the catch above theupper end of the lock-casing. The catch is lifted 1- nearly verticallyuntil the pin 2O reaches the closed end of slot 21 in the catch andseats itself in notch 22, after which the remaining portion of themovement of the pin, operates to carry the lower end of the catchtransversely, and by swinging the catch on its enlarged bearing 24throws the upper end of the catch to the left, so as to cause it toengage with the shoulder 16 on the keeper 2. When the disk or key-pieceis rotated in the opposite direction, the catch first is swungtransversely to disengage its outer end from the shoulder 1G of thekeeper 2, and then the catch is retracted longitudinallyinto thelockcase.

23 is a spiral spring confined between the upper end of the lock-casing1 and the enlargement 24 on the catch. While this spring isnotabsolutely essential to the working of the lock, it insures thecomplete retraction of the catch and causes it to lie flush with thesurface 6 when the piano is open. The disk or key-piece 18 is fittedloosely in a slot 34, that is cut through the lower end of the lockcase.The said disk or key-piece is supported beneath by a pin 2G, which isinserted through a small hole in the lock-casing after the parts of thelock have been assembled and which projects beneath the key-piece. Thelateral portions of the disk or key-piece work in the said slot,whileabove the edge of the disk or key-piece takes bearing at two points, asshown in Figs. 1 and 5, against the upper end of the slot, therebypreventing either the rise' or the lateral escape of the disk orkey-piece.

As will be clear, my improved lock herein described may beadvantageously employed in many kinds of cabinet-work other than thecases of pianos.

What I claim is-- 1. The improved lock comprising the lockcase, a catchor bolt movable longitudinally and transversely in thelock-cas'e, havingat an intermediate point in the length of the same an enlargement nearlyfilling the interior' of the lock-case, and also having in the inner endthereof the transverse slot 21 and notch 22, and a rotating key-piecehaving a pin working in said slot and notch and operating to eXtrude theengaging end of the catch or bolt and then move it laterally to causeits engagement with the keeper, substantially as described.

2. In a piano-lock, the combinationwith the lid and body of apiano-case, having corre-y sponding cylindrical cavities in their abutting faces, of a cylindrical lock fitting and secured in one cavity,anda cylindrical keeper fitting and secured in the other cavity, theoperative parts of the lock comprising a catch or bolt movablelongitudinally and trans- Versely in the lock-case, having at an inter'-mediate point in the length of the same an enlargement nearly fillingthe interior of the lock-case, and also having in the inner end thereofthe transverseslot 21 and notch 22, and a rotating key-piece having apin Working in said slot and notch and operating to extrude the engagingend of the catch or bolt and then move it laterally to cause itsengagement with the keeper, substantially as described.

3. The lock comprising the case slotted at its lower end, the catch orbolt placed within IOO the case and having the transverse slotin itsmovement of the catch, substantially as delower end and the lenlargedbearing at an inscribed. 1o termediate point in its length, the springaet- In testimony whereof I affix my signature ing to depress the saidcatch, and the disk or in presence" of two Witnesses.

5 key-piece tting loosely in the slot of the ease i ROBERT S. BOWEN.

and having the pin entering the slot of the Witnesses: catch to operatethe said cate-h, whereby to WM. A. MACLEOD,

occasion both a longitudinal and a transverse ALICE H. MORRISON.

